Don't panic

NIGHTMARE VISION - A member of the Merseyside Ambulance decontamination team leads away postal workers in white after a suspicious package was found at a sorting office in Liverpool, It was just one of a series of anthrax scares across the UK yesterday, all of which proved to be false

TWO of Reading's top politicians were caught in yesterday's anthrax scare at a high-level

government summit.

Reading Borough Council leader Dave Sutton and Keith Lock, his counterpart at West Berkshire, were meeting Local Government minister Nick Raynsford when a suspect package closed the Local Government Association headquarters in Westminster for two hours.

But, despite being in the middle of the alert, both leaders this morning warned people not to be

swept up in the anthrax scare gripping the western world.

Suspect packages also caused scares at a Liverpool mail sorting office, the Stock Exchange, the BBC studios at Millbank and St Andrews University, where Prince William is a student.

Like the powder found in a letter addressed to the Local Government's International Bureau, which is also yards from Labour's Millbank HQ, all proved to be false alarms.

Cllrs Sutton and Lock, as well as West Berkshire opposition leader Susie Kemp, were at a briefing by Mr Raynsford about a white paper into the future of Local Government.

Police and firefighters in protective suits sealed access to and from Local Government House just after 10am. The first and sixth floors of the building in Smith Square were sealed off and council leaders at the ground floor meeting were told they could leave but would not be able to return. They decided to stay and complete the summit.

Cllr Sutton said: "There was a little bit of apprehensive speculation. We went on for at least another hour after we were told. There was no panic. What it brings home for me is we have to be vigilant but get on with our normal lives and business. That's the point. The response was right."

Cllr Lock said: "The last thing you should do is panic. People have to carry on business as usual.

"I am not convinced any incident like this is connected with the problems with terrorism. It could well be some idiot taking advantage of people on the look-out for this type of thing. It is a bit bizarre why anyone would want to target the Local Government Association."

Police yesterday refused to say what was in the package, but an association spokeswoman said it contained white powder.

Postal workers at the Royal Mail's sorting office in Vastern Road are on high alert after yesterday's false alarms elsewhere in the country.